Gas turbine rotor systems include successive rows of blades, which extend from respective rotor disks that are arranged in an axially stacked configuration. The rotor stack may be assembled through a multitude of systems such as fasteners, fusion, tie-shafts and combinations thereof.
Gas turbine rotor systems operate in an environment in which significant pressure and temperature differentials exist across component boundaries which primarily separate a core gas flow path and a secondary cooling flow path. For high-pressure, high-temperature applications, the components experience thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) across these boundaries. Although resistant to the effects of TMF, the components may be of a heavier-than-optimal weight for desired performance requirements.